Activist wants public debate before changes in RTI Act

Indian Express ; December 20, 2010,

Mahiti Adhikar Gujarat Pahel (MAGP) has urged the Department of Personnel Training (DOPT) for a public debate all over the country before the Right to Information Act, 2005, is amended.

In a letter sent to DoPT, MAGP secretary Pankti Jog said the debates and discussions were necessary where the restrictions were proposed to be imposed on the citizens’ rights.

Stating that MAGP had studied the proposed rules, she said while some of the proposals were progressive, others were highly regressive. Giving examples, she said the move to restrict the number of words to only 250 in the request for information was beyond the scope of the RTI Act, 2005. “It is impractical, gives arbitrary powers to the principal information officer (PIO) and will lead to rejection of even genuine applications from the citizens requiring information,” the letter said.

She also objected to limiting the application to one subject matter only, saying the proposed provisions would give unnecessary powers to PIO and public authorities to hide information and give only partial information under the guise of the application being related to more than one subject matter.

She also objected to the proposed amendment being brought regarding charging actual expenses by the government, other than Rs 10 as postal charges, to supply information. Jog said it would bring corruption into the whole system and frustrate attempts to seek information.